[Dave ARNP]

For those of you who know me well, you know that Fibromyalgia is one of the main reasons I went into pain management. After seeing my mother suffer with the disease for many years, I became all to aware how under treated the disease was and then began to see how under treated ALL pain was.

Hopefully this thread will allow us to expand on the history, presentation and proper treatment of the disease.

To start things off, here is a study that I found which I found to be very helpful.

Pain Ratings in Fibromyaliga...0-10 isn't enough!

Dave

A NOTE about this thread.
ABSOLUTELY NO negativity! If your goal is to come in and debate whether FMS is real disease, if these patients are in pain, the use of narcotics... Hit the road. This isn't your place. This thread is about how to HELP those with FMS. Not give them any more crud then they've already endured.

[VivaLasViejas]

Dave, I wish YOU were my primary care provider sometimes......my doctor doesn't even BELIEVE in fibromyalgia! As a result, I've never been diagnosed properly.......I actually had a patient inadvertently "dx" it several years ago. She was showing me, on me, where her trigger points were......and she almost had to scrape me off the ceiling!! Since then I've read several books about it, and I know darned well I have it, although not to the extent where CFS is involved. I have trigger points pretty much all over the place, and this winter I've developed two more (bilateral shoulders). Generally, I just use Tylenol and Naprosyn or Motrin when it's really bad, and my husband massages me once or twice a week. I also use a heating pad on the places where I hurt the most. This regimen doesn't completely take away the pain, but at least I can live with it most of the time, and it bothers me a lot less in the warm months (not coincidentally, that's when I have NO depressive sx).

I occasionally take Soma (my sister's prescription) or borrow some Flexeril from a friend at work, and that, along with my nightly Ativan, does help me get a good quality night's sleep; I just can't get these from my doc because he thinks they're "bad drugs" and won't prescribe them.

Do you have any ideas for me? I can live with the situation as it is, but I think my quality of life would be better without it!

Thanks for raising this discussion, Dave.

[RN-PA]

My Mom has fibromyalgia and chronic hip pain (bursitis), so she's on a lot of meds, and is narcotic-dependent to manage the pain and be funtional in her life. I know she takes Elavil (Amytriptyline) and I had heard that Elavil is prescribed for fibromyalgia because it helps with the PERCEPTION of pain. I wondered if it was helpful for others.

[Dave ARNP]

About Elavil.

Elavil is a FIRST LINE DRUG for Fibromyalgia. I can't imagine NOT having a Fibro patient on it. A TCA can dramatically reduce the amount of pain a person is having, and can also reduce the amount of narcotics required by the patient.

In FMS, TCA's play an important role, in that sleep cycles greatly effect FMS. Since certain TCA's are known for their ability to produce deep sleep, they do a wonderful job of helping the whole principle of the disease process.

Dave
(Please re-read my first post, as it has been edited to include a rule warning on this thread... for those who've already read it )

[Hellllllo Nurse]

MD Terminator-

I have FM and I have sent you a pm.

[Dave ARNP]

Hi Hello Nurse!
I got your PM and will be getting back to you shortly.

I also have some general information that I will post here, shortly, as well.

Dave

[adrienurse]

what is fibromyalgia and why is it so difficult to diagnose and explain?

[Dave ARNP]

The who what when where why and how of Fibromyalgia Syndrome

This should clear up alot for you.

One of the better (IMHO) pages for FMS.


Dave

[aimeee]

Have you encountered any evidence of SAM-e being beneficial for Fibro sufferers?

[Dave ARNP]

Never heard of Sam-E being used.
Doesn't mean it wouldn't work, but it seems these days that there is something new comming out.

I would say the latest "new" thing that shows promise would be the use of Tegretol in Fibromyaliga.

Dave